The Sultan and the Slave: Feminist Orientalism and the Structure of "Jane Eyre"
Author(s): Joyce Zonana
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Signs, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Spring, 1993), pp. 592-617
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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The Sultanand theSlave:Feminist
Orientalism
and theStructure
of JaneEyre
Joyce
Zonana
I proposed to myselfto displaythe follyof those who
use authorityto bringa woman to reason; and I chose
for an example a sultan and his slave, as being two
extremes of power and dependence. [JEAN
MARFRANCOIS
MONTEL]
T H E D AY following
to her"master"
JaneEyre'sbetrothal
ONRochester,
Janefindsherself"obliged" to go withhim to a silk
warehouse at Millcote,where she is "ordered to choose half a
dozen dresses."Althoughshe makes it clear thatshe "hated the
business,"Janecannotfreeherselffromit. All she can manage,"by dint
of entreatiesexpressedin energeticwhispers,"is a reductionin thenumberof dresses,though"these .. . [Rochester]vowedhe would selecthimself."Anxiously,
securesRochJaneprotestsand "withinfinite
difficulty"
ester'sgrudgingacceptanceof herchoice: a "sober black satinand pearlgray silk." The ordeal is not over; afterthe silk warehouse,Rochester
takesJaneto a jeweller's,where"the more he boughtme," she reports,
"the moremycheekburnedwitha senseof annoyanceand degradation"
(Bronte[1847] 1985, 296-97).1
The shoppingtripto Millcote gentlyfiguresRochesteras a domestic
despot: he commandsand Jane is "obliged" to obey,thoughshe feels
Janeis not yet
degradedby thatobedience.At thispointin thenarrative,
aware thatin planningto marryherRochesteris consciouslychoosingto
I am indebtedto the anonymousreadersforSignswho helpedclarifyand refinemy
CynthiaHogue, PeterSchock,and Les White
argument.Nancy Easterlin,JimmyGriffin,
providedvaluable commentson earlydrafts,while RuthWalkeralways listenedand encouraged.Mark Kerrhelpedwiththe initialresearch;Maria McGarrityassistedin the
finalstages.For herexcellentcopyediting,
I am gratefulto JeanneBarker-Nunn.
1 Hereafter,
unidentified
page numbersin textreferto thePenguineditionofJaneEyre.
[Signs:Journalof Womenin Cultureand Society1993, vol. 18, no. 3]
? 1993 byThe University
of Chicago.All rightsreserved.
0097-9740/93/1803-0004$01.00
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THE
SULTAN
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SLAVE
Zonana
becomea bigamist.Yettheimageshe usesto portrayherexperienceofhis
masteryas he triesto dressher "like a doll" (297) signalsthatnot only
despotismbut bigamyand the orientaltrade in women are on Jane's
mind.RidingwithRochesterback to Thornfield,
she notes: "He smiled;
and I thoughthis smilewas such as a sultanmight,in a blissfuland fond
moment,bestowon a slavehis gold and gemshad enriched"(297). The
image is startlingin its extremity:surelyJane seems to overreactto
Rochester'sdesireto see his bridebeautifullydressed.
YetbycallingRochestera "sultan" and herselfa "slave,"Janeprovides
herselfand the readerwith a culturallyacceptable simileby which to
understandand combat the patriarchal"despotism" (302) centralto
Rochester'scharacter.Part of a large systemof what I termfeminist
orientalistdiscoursethat permeatesJane Eyre, CharlotteBronte'ssultan/slavesimiledisplaces the source of patriarchaloppressiononto an
"Oriental," "Mahometan" society,enablingBritishreadersto contemas
plate local problemswithoutquestioningtheirown self-definition
Westernersand Christians.2As I will demonstrate,in developingher
similethroughouther narrative,Janedoes not so much criticize(in the
wordsof Mary Ellis Gibson) "domesticarrangements
and BritishChrisfrom
the
of
view
of
the
woman"
(1987, 2) as define
tianity
point
'pagan'
herselfas a Westernmissionaryseekingto redeemnot the "enslaved"
woman outside the fold of Christianity
and Westernideologybut the
man
who
has
been
led
within
it.3
despotic
astray
2
Althoughthe feministorientalismI discernin the novel is parallelto the "figurative
use of blackness"earlieridentified
by Susan L. Meyer(1989, 250), it also has significant
differences.
WhereasMeyerfocuseson the opposition"white/black,"
I examinethe opposition"West/East."The two formsof oppositionare relatedbut not identical:the one
privilegesskincolor or "race," and the other"culture,"a phenomenonthatmay be associatedwithbut thatis not necessarilyreducibleto "race." Meyer'sessay admirably
how JaneEyre uses racial oppressionas a metaphorforclass and gender
demonstrates
oppression.However,in systematically
linkinggenderoppressionto orientaldespotism,
JaneEyre focuseson a formof oppressionthatis, fromthe first,conceivedby Westerners in termsof gender.
3 Gibson, one of the fewcriticsto note how the sultanimagepervadesJaneEyre,
makes the sanguineassumptionthatBronte'scritiqueof Easterndespotism"extendsto
Britishimperialistimpulsesthemselves,"
leadingGibson,like manycritics,to findthe
novel's conclusion"strange" (1987, 1, 7). As I shall show,however,Jane'sconcluding
paean to her missionarycousin in India is thoroughly
groundedin the novel's figurative
structure.GayatriSpivak,forher part,arguesthatBronte'snovel reproducesthe "axiomaticsof imperialism"(1985, 247) and thatits "imperialistproject" remainsinaccessible to the "nascent'feminist'scenario" (249). My argumentemphasizesless the acts of
politicaldominationthatconstituteimperialismthan how its ideology(and specifically
its orientalism)infectsthe analysisof domesticrelations"at home" and posits thatorientalismis in factput to the serviceof feminism.See also SuvendriniPerera'sdiscussion
of how "the vocabularyof orientalmisogyny"became "an invisiblecomponentin feministrepresentations"
in the nineteenth
century(1991, 79). Perera'schapteron JaneEyre,
publishedafterthe researchforthisarticlehad been completed,focuseson sati as the
text's"centralimage" (93), while myreadingemphasizesthe use of the haremas the
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THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Bronte'suse of feministorientalismis both embeddedin and brings
intofocusa longtraditionofWesternfeminist
writing.Beginningearlyin
theeighteenth
when
travelers'
tales about visitsto the
century,
European
Middle East became a popular genre,images of despotic sultans and
desperateslavegirlsbecamea centralpartof an emergingliberalfeminist
discourseabout theconditionof womennot in theEast but in theWest.
From Mary Wollstonecraft
to ElizabethBarrettBrowningto Margaret
Fullerand FlorenceNightingale,one discoverswriterafterwriterturning
to imagesof orientallife-and specificallythe "Mahometan" or "Arabian" harem-in orderto articulatetheircritiquesof the lifeof women
in theWest.Partof thelargerorientalismthatEdward Said has shownto
the functionof these images is not
informWesternself-representation,
to
domination
over the East, thoughcertainly
secure
Western
primarily
assume
and
enforce
that
domination.4
Rather,byfiguring
objectionthey
able aspects of life in the West as "Eastern," these Westernfeminist
writersrhetoricallydefinetheirproject as the removalof EasternelementsfromWesternlife.
Feministorientalismis a special case of the literarystrategyof using
the Orient as a means for what one writerhas called Western"selfthe Orient and Oriental Muslims into a
redemption":"transforming
vehiclefor... criticismof the Westitself"(Al-Bazei 1983, 6).5 Specifiorientalismis a rhetoricalstrategy(and a formof thought)
cally,feminist
which
a
by
speakeror writerneutralizesthe threatinherentin feminist
demandsand makes thempalatable to an audiencethatwishesto affirm
If the livesof womenin Englandor Franceor
its occidentalsuperiority.
the UnitedStates can be comparedto the lives of women in "Arabia,"
thenthe Westernfeminist'sdesireto changethe statusquo can be repthe West but as a conresentednot as a radical attemptto restructure
servativeeffort
to maketheWestmorelikeitself.Orientalism-thebelief
of theOrient
thattheEast is inferiorto theWest,and therepresentation
a major
becomes
means
of
unexamined,stereotypical
images-thus
by
feminist
in
formulation
of
numerous
Western
the
arguments.
premise
The convictionthatthe haremis an inherently
oppressiveinstitution
functionsas an a prioriassumptionin thewritingI examinehere.Even
uses of both sati and the harem
centralimageof genderoppression.Westernfeminist
functionequally,as Pererapointsout, to objectifythe "colonized or imagined'oriental'
femalesubject" (82).
4 See Said 1979 forthe definitive
expositionof orientalismas a "Westernstylefor
and havingauthorityoverthe Orient" (71).
dominating,restructuring,
5 Al-Bazei'sexcellent
feministadaptationof
studydoes not considerthe specifically
thisstrategy.
however,Al-Bazei identifies
Byron'sTurkishTales as a crucial
Interestingly,
as thedominantmode of nineteenth-century
of "self-redemption"
locus forthedevelopment
literaryorientalism.Byron'sinfluenceon Brontehas been well documented,and further
orientalism.
studymightestablisha linkbetweenhis TurkishTales and Bronte'sfeminist
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Zonana
in the twentiethcentury,such an assumptioncontinuesto appear in
Westernfeministdiscourse,as Leila Ahmed (1982) and Chandra MoActualresearchon or observationof theconhanty(1988) demonstrate.
ditionsof the haremis rare,and what littlethathas been writtentends
toward eitherdefensivecelebrationor violentcondemnation.The defensesare writtenwithan awarenessof thecondemnations:theirauthors
must challengethe Westernfeministimaginationthat unquestioningly
as imperceivespolygamyas sexual slaveryand domesticconfinement
The
to
a
introduce
alternate
vision
is
prisonment.6
attempt
genuinely
the
of
of
in
with
difficulties
both
the
actualities
life
documenting
fraught
the harem and of achievinga transculturalperspective,though some
writershave made the effort.7
This articledoes not claim to demonstrateany truthabout theharem
thatwould definitively
contradictor evenmodifytheWesternviewspresentedhere,nor does it systematically
engagein the effortto achievean
of
objectiveestimate the harem; rather,it seeks only to show how astheWesternfeminist
sumptionsabout theEast have been used to further
projectinsteadofeitherspurringresearchand theorizingabout theactual
conditionsof haremlifeor establishinggenuinealliancesamongwomen
of different
cultures.For what is most crucial about what I am calling
feminist
orientalismis thatit is directednot towardtheunderstanding
or
eventhereformof theharemitselfbuttowardtransformation
ofWestern
society-even while preservingbasic institutionsand ideologies of the
West. Coming to recognizethe feministorientalismin Jane Eyre and
otherformative
Westernfeminist
textsmayhelp cleartheway fora more
balanced analysisof the multipleformsboth of patriarchy
self-critical,
and of women'spower,and it may also, indirectly,
help freeglobal feminism fromthe charge that it is a Westernmovementinapplicableto
Easternsocieties.8
That Jane Eyre,like so manynineteenth-century
Britishtexts,has a
diffuselyorientalistbackgroundhas long been recognizedand for the
6
For a recentdefenseof polygamyin the contextof WesternMormonism,see Joseph
1991. Earlierin thiscentury,
DemetraVaka arguedthatwomen livingin haremswere
"healthyand happy,"possessinga "sublimityof soul ... lackingin our European civilization" (1909, 29, 127-28). Ahmed 1982 arguesthatthe haremcan be construedas an
inviolableand empowering"women's space" thatenables Islamicwomento have "freacross class lines,
quent and easy access to otherwomen in theircommunity,
vertically,
as well as horizontally"(524).
7
See, e.g., Makhlouf-Obermeyer
1979; Gordon (1865) 1983; Delplato 1988;
Croutier1989; Gendron1991; Leonowens(1872) 1991.
8 See Ahmed 1982 fora pointedanalysisof how fundamentalist
Islamic movements
"target"feminismas "'Western' and as particularlyrepugnantand evil" (533). Simicenturies"Eurolarly,Hatem 1989 shows how in the late nineteenthand earlytwentieth
pean and Egyptianwomenwere influencedby modernnationalideologiesand rivalries
... prevent[ing]
themfromusingeach other'sexperienceto push fora moreradical critique of theirown societies" (183).
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THE
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THE
SLAVE
most part attributedto the influenceof the Arabian Nights,a book
knownto havebeen a stapleof theBrontes'childhoodreading.9The first
similein the novel, in the fourthparagraphof the firstchapter,places
Jane,"cross-legged,like a Turk" (39) in the window seat of the Gateshead breakfastroom. Not muchlater,Janetakes down a book of "Arabian tales" (70); she revealsthatshe is fascinatedby "genii" (82); and
eventuallyshe makes it plain that the Arabian Nightswas one of her
threefavoritechildhoodbooks (256). Othercharactersin thenovel also
and fascinationwiththeOrient:theDowager
displaya loose familiarity
in
a
"crimsonvelvetrobe, and a shawl turban"
dresses
Lady Ingram
her
Blanche
admitsthatshe "dote[s] on Corsairs" (208);
(201);
daughter
RochesterworrieswhenJaneassumesa "sphinx-likeexpression"(329).
The specifically
feministqualityof Jane Eyre's orientalism,however,
has not been recognized,perhaps because feministorientalismhas remaineduntilrecentlyan opaque, underexaminedaspect of Westernintellectualhistory.(Ahmed1982, Spivak1985, Mohanty1988, and Perera
1991 are importantexceptions.)The feministorientalismof Jane Eyre,
is only made explicitin the sultan/slavesimile,and, alfurthermore,
the
chords
struckin thispassage resonatethroughoutthe entire
though
cannot
ofthefull
novel,they
properlybe heardwithoutan understanding
and
that
them.
Beeighteenth- nineteenth-century
background
generates
foreturningto thatbackground,however,it maybe helpfulbriefly
to set
in reliefthiskeyepisode in whichJanenot onlycomparesRochesterto
a sultan but engages with him in an extendeddiscussionof women's
rightsand uses her comparisonof him to a sultanas a means by which
to securemore rightsforherself.
featuresof this passage is the factthat
Among the more interesting
does
not
Rochester
that
she is mentallycomparinghim to a
tell
Jane
him
sultan.She simplyasks
to stop lookingat her "in thatway." Rochesteris astuteenoughto understandJane'sunspokenreference,
suggestorientalistdiscourseis so pervasiveas to be accessibleto
ingthatfeminist
theverymen it seeks to change: " 'Oh, it is richto see and hear her!' he
exclaimed.'Is she original?Is she piquant?I would notexchangethisone
littleEnglish girl for the Grand Turk's whole seraglio-gazelle-eyes,
houriforms,and all!' " (297). Rochestersuggeststhathe will takeJane
insteadof a harem,thoughJanebristlesat the"Easternallusion": " 'I'll
not standyou an inchin thesteadof a seraglio,'I said; 'so don't consider
me an equivalentforone. If you have a fancyforanythingin thatline,
awaywithyou,sir,to thebazaars of Stamboul,withoutdelay,and lay out
9 See, e.g., Conant 1908; Stedman1965; Ali 1981; Caracciolo 1988; Workman
1988.
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inextensive
someofthatsparecashyouseemat a lossto
slave-purchases
"
here'
(297).
spendsatisfactorily
WhenRochester
askswhatJanewilldo whilehe is "bargainjokingly
for
so
of
andsuchan assortment
ofblackeyes,"Jane
tons
flesh
many
ing
is readywitha playful
butseriousresponse:"I'll be preparing
to
myself
a
out
to
to
that
are
as
them
missionary preachliberty
go
enslaved-your
hareminmatesamongtherest.I'll getadmitted
there,and I'll stirup
andyou,three-tailed
bashawas youare,sir,shallin a tricefind
mutiny;
our
fettered
yourself
amongst hands:norwillI, forone,consentto cut
bonds
till
themostliberalthatdespotever
your
youhavesigneda charter,
conferred!"
thatshe
(297-98). Although
yet
JanepromisesRochester
will"go outas a missionary"
to "Stamboul,"
thefocusofherremarks
is
thereform
ofRochester
withinEngland.Herconcernis thatshe
himself
herself
notbe treatedas a "hareminmate,"
andheraction,immediately
thisconversation,
succeedsin accomplishing
hergoal.
following
of degrading
It is precisely
Jane'sexperience
dependency,
playfully
haremslaveto despoticEastern
hereas therelationofrebellious
figured
revealsRochester
as
sultan,thatleadsherto takethestepthatultimately
Foritis at thispointthatJane
morelikea sultanthanJanehadimagined.
makesand executesthedecisionto writeto herUncleJohnin Madeira,
inthehopethathewillsettlesomemoneyon her."IfI had everso small
an independency,"
shereasons,"ifI had buta prospect
ofonedaybringan accessionof fortune,
I couldbetterendureto be
ingMr. Rochester
keptby himnow" (297). Jane'sletterto JohnEyrealertsRochester's
RichardMason,to Rochester's
brother-in-law,
plansto becomea bigamist,and Jane is freedfroma marriagethatwould, in her own terms,
havethoroughly
enslavedher.
of Rochester
to a sultanprovesto be no exaggerJane'scomparison
ation.Thenarrative
makesplainthatitis becausesheseeshiminthisway
thatshelateris able to freeherself
froma degrading
witha
relationship
manwhohas boughtwomen,is willingto becomea bigamist,
and acts
likea despot.The plotthusvalidatesthefigurative
language,makingof
itmuchmorethana figure.
ThisWestern
manis "Eastern"inhisways,
and forJaneto be happy,he mustbe thoroughly
Westernized.
To the
extentthatBrontehasJaneEyrepresent
hersas a modellife-"Reader,
I married
him"-she suggests
thatherfemalereaderswouldalso be well
advisedto identify
andeliminate
intheirown
anysuchEasternelements
spousesand suitors.
Morethantenyearsago,PeterA. Taschobserved
thatin havingJane
call Rochester
a "three-tailed
bashaw,"Bronte"was echoingtherefrain
in a song by GeorgeColmanthe Youngerforhis extravaganza
Blue
Beard."Taschfurther
notesthat"theideaofan English
girlinthe'grand
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THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Turk's' seraglio demandinglibertyformsthe theme of another stage
The Sultan; or,A Peep into the Seraglio"
comedy,[Isaac Bickerstaffe's]
well
Tasch
be correctin identifying
these specific
(1982, 232).
may
sourcesforBronte'sallusions;yettheimageof a hareminmatedemanding libertyhad by 1847 become so ingrainedin Westernfeministdiscourse that Bronte need not have had any specifictext in mind; her
audience,whetherfamiliarwithBlue Beard and The Sultanor not,would
have had a full stock of harem images by which to understandand
simile.
applaud Jane'ssultan/slave
The stagewas set fortheWesternuse of theharemas a metaphorfor
aspects of Westernlife as early as 1721, in Baron de Montesquieu's
PersianLetters.The lettersin Montesquieu'snovel,writtenprimarilyby
two "Persian" men travelingin Europe, offerdramaticimages of both
Easternand Westernways of structuring
domesticand politicalrelations.
Usbek and Rica, the travelerswho reporton the oddities of Western
ways,are in constantcontactwiththewomenand eunuchstheyhaveleft
behindin the harem.The Westernreadermovesbetweendefamiliarized
visionsof Europe and "familiar"imagesof Persia,eventuallycomingto
thatin the seraglio,consee, in thewordsof one moderncommentator,
structedas theheartof orientaldespotism,"It is myself,and our world,
thatI rediscover"(Grosrichard1979, 32-33, translationmine;
finally,
functionof Westernrepreforfurther
commentaryon the self-reflexive
sentationsof the harem,see Richon 1984 and Alloula 1986).
Montesquieu'swork focusesprimarilyon the natureof politicaldesof
potism,usingimagesof theEasternand Westerndomesticenslavement
of men.The condition
womenas metaphorsforthepoliticalenslavement
ofwomenis notMontesquieu'scentralconcern,butbecause theharemis
his functionalmodel of despotism,the novel repeatedlyreturnsto the
questionof "whetherit is betterto deprivewomenof theirlibertyor to
leave themfree" (Montesquieu [1721] 1923, 107) and draws recurrent
analogies betweenthe statusof women in the East and the West.In its
closingpages, PersianLettersportraysa full-scalerebellionin the seraglio: in the absence of theirmasters,the women have takennew lovers
and soughtto undo the systemof surveillancethat has kept themimprisoned.
As Katie Trumpenernotes,"the last-and perhapsmostpowerfulvoice in the book is Roxanna's" (1987, 185), the voice of a formerly
enslavedhareminmatewho willinglyacceptsherdeathas thepriceof her
freedom:"How could you thinkthatI was sucha weaklingas to imagine
therewas nothingforme in theworldbut to worshipyourcaprices;that
whileyou indulgedall yourdesires,you should have therightto thwart
me in all mine?No: I have lived in slavery,and yetalways retainedmy
freedom:I haveremodeledyourlaws upon thoseof nature;and mymind
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has always maintainedits independence"(350). AlthoughMontesquieu
may have had other applicationsin mind, the voice of his rebellious
Roxanna came to be thevoice adopted bylaterwritersseekingto expose
the oppressionof women.
Thus, as Pauline Kra has shown,afterMontesquieuFrenchliterature
of theeighteenth
centuryregularlyused the "haremtheme"to "demonstratethesubordinatestatusof women" in theWest(1979, 274). Martha
Conant notesthatJeanFranCoisMarmontel's1761 popular Moral Tale,
"Soliman II," featuresthe conquest of a sultan by a "prettyEuropean
slave,Roxalana," who appears to echo Montesquieu'sheroine.Roxalana's heartwas "nourishedin the bosom of liberty,"and her expostulations "against the restraintsof the seraglio" succeed in convertingthe
sultan (1908, 205-7). In Englishliteratureas well the harem came to
functionas a metaphorforthe Westernoppressionof women. Samuel
Johnson's1759 Rasselas includesan expose of theoppressivenessof the
haremand a defenseof women'srightsto intellectualdevelopment;10
the
heroineof the 1775 play Tasch identifies
as a source of Jane Eyre (and
whichConant tracesto Marmontel)is named "Roxalana"; and Defoe's
feministheroine of The FortunateMistress calls herself"Roxanna"
(Trumpener1987, 187-88). The name of Montesquieu's rebellious
harem inmate seems to have been so consistentlyassociated with the
demandforfemalerightsthatwhenMaryWollstonecraft
has a character
in Maria or the Wrongsof Woman seek liberationfroman oppressive
husband,theman respondsby invokingherliterarymodel: "Verypretty,
theatricalflourishes!Pray,fairRoxana, stoop
upon mysoul! verypretty,
fromyouraltitudesand rememberthatyou are actinga partin real life"
([1798] 1975, 116).
To theextentthatMontesquieudemonstrates
forWesternreadersthat
theorientalinstitution
of theseragliocan shedlighton Westernpractices,
one can say thathis textinauguratesfeminist
orientalistdiscourse.But it
is in Wollstonecraft's1792 Vindicationof the Rightsof Woman, the
thatone findsthe fullestexfoundingtextof Westernliberalfeminism,
plicit feministorientalistperspective.Like many of the enlightenment
thinkerson whomshe drew-including,of course,Montesquieu- Wollstonecraftuncriticallyassociates the East with despotismand tyranny.
Her textis repletewithimagesthatlinkany abuse of powerwith"Eastern" ways: she is not above likeningwomenwho seek to dominatetheir
HelenBurnsreadsRasselasat Lowood;though
10JaneEyre'sfriend
Jane's"brief
examination"
ofthebookconvinces
heritis "dull"(Bronte[1847] 1985,82), thetext's
within
in
with-and interest
presence
JaneEyresignalsBronte's
familiarity
orientalism.
keysourceoffeminist
highlighting-a
Kringas1992pointsoutthatRasseoftheharembut,byjuxtaposing
las notonlyexposestheoppressiveness
theexperiences
ofNekayahandPekuah,specifically
linksthelivesofwomenin theharemwiththelives
ofuneducated,
middle-class
womenoutsidetheseraglio(33).
Spring 1993
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599
Zonana
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
husbandswith "Turkishbashaws" ([1792] 1982, 125). Yet she reserves
her fullestscorn forthe gendereddespotismthat she sees as a defining
featureof Easternlifeand a perversecorruptionof Westernvalues.
of womenthatWollstonecraft
Anyaspect of theEuropean treatment
findsobjectionableshe labels as Eastern.Thus, she findsthatEuropean
women's "limbs and faculties"are "crampedwith worse than Chinese
bands" (Wollstonecraft[1792] 1982, 128); Westernwomen are educated in "worse thanEgyptianbondage" (221); theirmastersare "worse
than Egyptiantask-masters"(319). Upper-classwomen, "dissolved in
luxury,"have become weak and depraved"like the Sybarites"(130); if
women do not "grow moreperfectwhen emancipated,"Wollstonecraft
advises thatEurope should "open a freshtradewithRussia forwhips"
(319).
Yet it is "Mahometanism"-and the "Mahometan" institution
of the
or
harem-that
out
as
Wollstonecraft
the
seraglio
singles
grandtypefor
all oppressionof women. Any Westernwriterwho treatswomen "as a
kind of subordinatebeings,and not as a part of the human species" is
accused of writing"in the truestyleof Mahometanism"([1792] 1982,
80). This is because what she believesabout "Mahometanism"embodies
forWollstonecraft
the antithesisof her own centralclaim: thatwomen,
like men, have souls. AlthoughAhmed assertsthat she can find"no
record... in the body of orthodoxMuslim literatureof the notionthat
women are animals or have no souls," she notes that views such as
are a stapleofWesternwritingabout Islam (1982, 526).
Wollstonecraft's
thecreationofthispurportedfactabout Islamicculture
Ahmedattributes
ofWestern
to thesame Westernmenwho haveinsistedon the"inferiority
in
the
a
women" (523). Yet Vindicationof
Rightsof Woman, founderof
the spurious"fact" about
modernfeminismreproducesand intensifies
"Mahometanism,"indeed,usingit as a cornerstoneof her argumentfor
women's rightsin the West.
A peculiarityof languagemayhaveled to or enforcedWollstonecraft's
convictionthat Muslims believe that women do not have souls. The
Oxford EnglishDictionary(OED) notesthatthe Italian word seraglio,
was used to renderthe Turkishserai,
meaning"place of confinement,"
M.
also observesthat "the modern
or
N.
Penzer
"palace."
"lodging"
from
the
Italian
is
derived
serraglio,'a cage for wild
seraglio directly
"
sara
and sarai,meantsimply
while
the
Persian
animals,'
words,
original
as
the
As
late
seventeenth
or
centuryin
"building" "palace" (1936, 16).
"a
where
wild
beastsare
to
refer
to
one
finds
used
seraglio
place
England
of
as
to
women.
as
well
the
Thus,when
privateapartments
kept" (OED)
who
to
animals"
of
women
reduced
"mere
Wollstonecraft
speaks
being
are "only fitfora seraglio" (83), she invokesboth meaningsof seraglio
600
SIGNS
Spring 1993
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Zonana
and may have thoughtherselfwell justifiedin herview that"Mahometans" regardedwomen as animals.11
is so committedto her notion of Islamic culturethat
Wollstonecraft
a Christianthinker,
she goes so faras to accuse Milton,demonstrably
of
in
the
when
nature
of
"true
Mahometan
strain"
he
the
specifies
writing
"I
frail
cannot
his
"our
first
mother":
Eve,
comprehend meaning,unless,
in the true Mahometan strain,he meant to depriveus of souls, and
insinuatethatwe werebeingsonlydesignedbysweetattractive
grace,and
docile blind obedience, to gratifythe senses of man when he can no
longersoar on the wing of contemplation"([1792] 1982, 100-101).12
herelocateswhatshe calls Mahometanbeliefat
AlthoughWollstonecraft
the centerof WesternChristianculture,she does not waver fromher
distinctfrom-and superior
convictionthat the West is fundamentally
to-the East, claimingthatthe"despotismthatkillsvirtueand geniusin
the bud" does not "hoveroverEurope withthatdestructive
blast which
desolatesTurkey"(131).
the Englishhusband "who lords it in his
Thus, forWollstonecraft,
littleharem" (167) is more guiltythan his Easterncounterpart,forthe
despotismincarnatein the harem is not naturalto Europe. Unlike the
"Turk,"the Englishhusband goes againstthe grainof his race and culture,as does anyWesternwoman who acceptssuch "Eastern" treatment
ofher.Forexample,Wollstonecraft
respondsto Rousseau's wishthat" 'a
youngEnglishwomancultivateher agreeabletalents,in orderto please
her futurehusband,withas muchcare and assiduityas a youngCircassian cultivateshers,to fitherfortheharemof an Easternbashaw' " (183)
by criticizingthe woman who could accept such a life: "In a seraglio,I
grant,thatall theseartsare necessary;... but havewomenso littleambitionas to be satisfiedwithsuch a condition?... Surelyshe has not an
soul immortalwho can loiterlifeaway merelyemployedto adorn her
person,thatshe may amuse thelanguidhours,and softenthe cares of a
fellow-creature"
(112-13).
of girlsmakes
Though the Westernemphasison the marriageability
"mereanimals" of them,"weak beings"who "are onlyfitfora seraglio"
(Wollstonecraft
[1792] 1982, 83), it is only "Mahometan" womenwho
can acceptsuch bondage: "If womenare to be made virtuousby author1 In thiscontext,
itmayalso be worthnotingthatharem,derived
fromtheArabic
andlastly'for'sacred,''inviolate,'
haram,designates
placesthatare" 'holy,''protected,'
bidden'" (Penzer1936,15). In Western
usage,theholinessofharemis elided,andthe
cagingaspectofseragliois introduced.
12 Samuel
had levieda similarchargeagainstMilton,claiming
inhis 1779
Johnson
likea Turkish
of
LifeofMiltonthat"thereappearsin hisbookssomething
contempt
females
as subordinate
andinferior
womanmadeonlyforobedibeings.... He thought
ence,andmanonlyforrebellion"
(85).
Spring 1993
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601
Zonana
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
ity,which is a contradictionin terms,let thembe immuredin seraglios
and watchedwith a jealous eye. Fear not that the iron will entertheir
souls-for the souls that can bear such treatmentare made of yielding
materials,just animatedenoughto givelifeto the body" (311).
Iftheseraglioexistsunchallengedas an Easterninstitution,
Wollstonecraftimplies,it is because "Mahometan" teachingsare accuratein their
of Easternwomen: theirsouls are barely"animated."In
representation
and theseraglio-or
theWest,however,womenare made of sternerstuff,
it-has
no
The
feminism
of Wollstonethat
resembles
place.
anything
craft'sVindicationof the Rightsof Woman ultimatelyreducesitselfto
noncontroversial
whatwould havebeen in hertimea relatively
plea: that
theWestrid itselfof its orientalways, becomingas a consequencemore
reasonable.
Western-thatis, morerational,enlightened,
or simplybecausetheideas on which
Whetherthroughdirectinfluence
orientalshe drewwerecirculatingfreelywithintheculture,thefeminist
came to pervade nineteenthist strategyintroducedby Wollstonecraft
discourse.Said has notedthatorientalismcharacteristicenturyfeminist
in
figures,or
cally emerges Westernwritingas a "set of representative
look
it
to
at
are style,
observe
"the
and
he
that
to
things
argues
tropes,"
In
Persian
devices"
of
narrative
(1979, 71, 21).
figures speech,setting,
Lettersand Vindicationof theRightsof Woman-as in JaneEyre-the
figuresand tropesof the Orientare deeplywoven into the fabricof the
orientalistdiscourseare typically
entiretext.Otherexamplesof feminist
less elaboratedand appear to be no morethanrandom,casual allusions.
Yet the verycasualness of these allusions suggeststhat the writersare
sharedwiththeir
drawingupon a fullydevelopedculturalcode implicitly
readers.There is no need to argue foror to proveany individualdefinitionof Easternways nor anyspecificanalogybetweenEast and West,for
the entirebeliefsystemthat makes the individualreferences
possible is
takenforgranted.
writersreturnto again and again are
Amongtheelementsthatfeminist
had
of womenthatWollstonecraft
threeaspectsof theEasterntreatment
which
not
have
women
do
belief
that
central
the
souls,
emphasized:(1)
justifiesand explainstheotherpractices;(2) theexcessivesexualityof the
harem,embodiedpartlyin polygamybut also in luxury,indolence,and
the tradein women; and (3) the enforcedconfinement,
undereducation,
and inactivityof women in the haremthatreducesthemto animals or
children.A fewmoreexamplesmay help to establishthe fullcontextof
hernovelas the drama of
thediscoursethatallowed Bronteto structure
a Westernwoman oppressedby Easternbeliefsand practices.
feminist
One of the more extendedinstancesof nineteenth-century
orientalismappearsin theworkofWollstonecraft's
daughter,Mary Shelley.Althoughit seemsthatShelleydid not fullysharehermother'scom602
SIGNS
Spring 1993
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Zonana
mittedfeministactivism,in her novelFrankensteinshe nevertheless
created a strikingfemalecharacterwho insistson herexistenceas a soul.13
This character,Safie,not onlyechoes thewordsand philosophyof Wollstonecraftbut is also dramaticallyfiguredas a "lovely Arabian," a
woman who barelyescapes "being immured"withina harem:
Safie related,that her motherwas a ChristianArab, seized and
made a slave by the Turks; recommendedby her beauty,she had
won the heartof the fatherof Safie,who marriedher.The young
girlspoke in highand enthusiastictermsof hermother,who, born
in freedom,spurnedthe bondage to which she was now reduced.
She instructed
herdaughterin thetenetsof thereligion,and taught
herto aspireto higherpowersof intellect,and an independenceof
spirit,forbiddento the femalefollowersof Mahomet. This lady
died; butherlessonswereindeliblyimpressedon themindof Safie,
who sickenedat the prospectof again returningto Asia, and the
beingimmuredwithinthewalls of a haram,allowed onlyto occupy
herselfwithpuerileamusements,
ill-suitedto thetemperofhersoul,
now accustomedto grandideas and a noble emulationforvirtue.
[Shelley(1818) 1974, 119]
"Let woman share the rights,and she will emulatethe virtuesof man,"
Wollstonecraft
had writtenat the end of her Vindication([1792] 1982,
in thepersonof her"lovelyArabian,"
319). Shelleyechoes thissentiment
inscribingit in the same orientalistframeas had her mother.
Feministorientalismemergesagain in the work of Anna Jameson,
whose Memoirs of the Loves of the Poets is designed to show "the
influencewhichthe beautyand virtueof womenhaveexercisedoverthe
charactersand writingsof men of genius" ([1824] 1890, vii). Hardly a
feministof the orderof Wollstonecraft,
Jamesonis nevertheless
deeply
disturbedbythebeliefthatwomendo nothavesouls,attributing
itto the
"Mahometan" East, wherewomenare "held in seclusion,as meresoulless slavesof thepassions and capricesof theirmasters"(25). Like Wollstonecraft,
Jamesonalso discernsEasternvalues operatingin the West:
she calls Lord Byronthe "Grand Turk of amatorypoetry,"explaining
thatdespitethebeautyof his "femaleportraits,"
thereis "somethingvery
Orientalin all his feelingsand ideas about women; he seems to require
nothingof us but beauty and submission" (507). One is remindedof
Wollstonecraft'scritique of Milton's "Mahometan" prescriptionsfor
13
See Zonana 1991 foran extended
thatSafiein factarticulates
Frankenargument
stein'sthematic
center.
Fora morequalified
viewofShelley's
see Poovey
feminism,
1984.See also Spivak1985 fortheviewthatFrankenstein
resists
itsculture's
pervasive
orientalism.
Spring 1993
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603
Zonana
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Eve: "sweetattractive
grace,and docile blindobedience" (Wollstonecraft
[1792] 1982, 100).
Jamesonand Shelleyecho one anotherwhen theyrepudiatethebelief
thatwomendo nothavesouls. Yettheydo not directlyaddressthesexual
practicesthatcan be said to followfromthisbelief-polygamyand the
buyingand sellingof women-though, as Alain Grosrichardhas shown,
polygamytendedto be a key featureof Westernmeditationsupon the
Orient(1979, 177-82). Later in thenineteenth
however,while
century,
in
and
male
reveled
voyeuristic vaguelypornographic
European
painters
of femalebodies available to masters
of the multiplicity
representations
of theharem,feminist
writerslearnedto approach issuesof sexualityby
themarriagemarket,and the
puttingthemin orientalterms.Prostitution,
habitof keepingmistressesare all now figuredas Easternintrusionsinto
a Westernideal of monogamousromanticlove and marriage.
For example, when Jemima Bradshaw, a character in Elizabeth
Gaskell's 1853 novelRuth,contemplatesthefinancialbasis of herforthorientalistimage: "She feltas if
comingmarriage,she invokesa feminist
she would ratherbe boughtopenly,like an Orientaldaughter"[(1853)
1985, 240). In America,MargaretFullersimilarlycomparesthe"selling"
of English"daughtersto the highestbidder" with "sendingthemto a
Turkishslave-dealer.""You know how it was in the Orientalclime,"she
remindsher readers,thoughshe defendsthe "Turkish"practiceas less
for"it is not done in defianceof
degradingthanitsWesterncounterpart,
an acknowledgedlaw ofrightin theland and theage" ([1845] 1971, 139,
is in facta
133, 139). What seemsto be a healthyrespectfordifference
Like Wollstonecraft,
Fuller accepts
ratificationof Westernsuperiority.
"Oriental" practicesin the Orient-but not in the more temperate,enlightenedWest.
Likewise,when ElizabethBarrettBrowningjustifiesher discussionof
in AuroraLeigh,she explainsshe is workingto ridEngland
prostitution
of orientalprejudice:"I am deeplyconvincedthatthecorruptionof our
societyrequiresnot shutdoors and windows,but lightand air: and that
is exactlybecausepureand prosperouswomenchoose to ignorevice,that
with
Has paterfamilias,
miserablewomensuffer
wrongby it everywhere.
his Oriental traditionsand veiled femalefaces,verysuccessfullydealt
withher quick sure
with a certainclass of evil? What if materfamilias,
instinctsand honestinnocenteyes,do more towardstheirexpulsionby
simplylookingat themand callingthembytheirnames?" (1897, 2:445)
WhenBarrettBrowningwritesof "shutdoors and windows" and "veiled
hintsat anothercentralaspectof thelife
femalefaces,"she also indirectly
theconfineof Easternwomenin theimaginationsof Westernfeminists:
mentof theharem.This is theaspectemphasizedwhenWalterBesant,in
1897, commentson the "Orientalprejudice"thatkeeps Britishwomen
604
SIGNS
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THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Zonana
andthatearlierinthecentury
resulted
outofcertain
intheir
professions
"seclusion... inthehome,andtheirexclusionfromactiveandpractical
life"([1897] 1989,2:1653, 2:1652).
in thewritingof
And it is thisaspectthatemergesmosttellingly
"Ifheavenand hellexiston thisearth,it is in the
FlorenceNightingale.
and theHareem,"she
twoworldsI saw thatmorning-theDispensary
writesat theconclusionof her1849 tourof Egypt([1849-50] 1988,
femi208). Nightingale's
maybe themostdramatic
nineteenth-century
nistcondemnation
oftheharem:itis forherliterally
hellon earth.What
is not (at leastnotexplicitly)
makesit so forNightingale
itssensuality,
noritsdomination
a
male
nor
even
the
of
despot,
by
slavery itswomen.
what
finds
about
the
haremareitsall too
Rather,
Nightingale horrifying
"A
familiar
boredomandconfinement: littlemoreofsucha placewould
have killedus ... Oh, the ennuiof thatmagnificent
palace, it will stand
in mymemory
as a circleofhell!Not one thingwas therelayingabout,
to be doneor to be lookedat" (208).
an actualvisitto a harem,her
is describing
AlthoughNightingale
is conditioned
bothbyherpreexisting
cultural
description
imagesofthe
haremandtheexperience
ofherownlifeas a womaninEngland.14
Her
wordsechothoseofPekuahinJohnson's
Rasselas,evenas theyanticipate
herown analysesof familylifein England.Pekuahhad notedof the
haremthat"thediversions
ofthewomen... wereonlychildish
play,by
whichthemindaccustomed
to stronger
operationscouldnot be kept
thatwerewithintheir
busy.... Theyhad no ideasbutofthefewthings
but theirclothesand their
view,and had hardlynamesforanything
food"(Johnson
herself
writes:"Thevery
[1759]1977,135).Nightingale
windowsintothegardenwerewoodworked,
so thatyoucouldnotsee
out.Thecold,themelancholy
ofthatplace!I feltinclined
to cry"(Nighta fewyearslater,
ingale[1849-50] 1988, 208). In Cassandra,written
condemnsthe "cold and oppressiveconventional
atmoNightingale
thatwomenareforced
toabandon
life,noting
sphere"ofwomen'sfamily
"intellect
as a vocation,"
takingitonly"as we usethemoon,byglimpses
... tight-closed
windowshutters"
([1852] 1980,29, 37). Nightthrough
of domesticconfinement,
whether
in Egyptor Eningale'sdescription
most chillingdescriptions
of
gland,recallsone of Wollstonecraft's
in theirfamilies
women"immured
gropingin thedark"([1792] 1982,
87).
It is thisimageof domesticimmurement
thatmostobviously
haunts
thisnarrative
strucJaneEyreand shapesitsverystructure.
Examining
is conture,one sees thateach householdin whichJanefindsherself
14
See Barrell1991 fora provocativediscussionof how touristssuch as Nightingale
theirownfantasies
andpreoccupations
to theirdescriptions
ofthesightsin
brought
Egypt.
Spring 1993
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605
Zonana
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
structedto resemblea harem;each of her oppressorsis characterizedas
a Mahometan despot; and each of her rebellionsor escapes bears the
accentsof Roxanna, the hareminmatedeclaringher existenceas a free
and at Moor House, one
soul. At Gateshead,at Lowood, at Thornfield,
discoversa seriesof communitiesof dependentwomen,all subjectto the
whimof a singlemasterwho rulesin his absenceas muchas his presence
and who subjectsthe imprisonedwomen to the searchingpower of his
gaze.15In each of thesehouseholds,Janefindsher own power of movementand of visionlimited;evenwhenshe is mostin love withRochester
at Thornfield,she recognizesthat he stands in her way, "as an eclipse
intervenes
betweenman and the broad sun" (Bronte[1847] 1985, 302).
The patternof home as haremis establishedat Gateshead,wherethe
householdconsistsofJohnReed, Mrs. Reed, Eliza and GeorgianaReed,
Jane,and the two femaleservants,Bessie and Abbott.There are also a
male "butlerand footman" (60), thoughthese are shadowypresences,
namelessmen inconsequentialin the dynamicsand managementof the
household. The "master" is youngJohnReed, a boy of fourteenwho
demandsthatJanecall him "Master Reed" (41) and againstwhose arbitraryruleJanehas no appeal: "the servantsdid not liketo offendtheir
youngmasterby takingmypart againsthim,and Mrs. Reed was blind
and deafon thesubject:she neversaw himstrikeor heardhimabuse me,
thoughhe did both now and thenin her verypresence"(42).
Like thesultansdescribedbyMontesquieuand theeighteenth-century
travelers,
Johnconsiderstheprivilegesof seeingand knowingto be his.
What enrageshim in the novel's openingscene is thatJaneis out of his
sight.Hidden behindthecurtainof thewindowseat,readingand looking
out the window, she has usurped his role as the "Turk." "Where the
dickensis she?" Johnasks his sisters,and whenEliza findsJaneforhim,
Johncastigateshis cousinnot onlyfor"gettingbehindcurtains"but also
forreading:"You haveno businessto takeour books" (42). In thecourse
of his tirade,Johncalls Janea "bad animal" (41) and a "rat" (42); later
she will become a "wild cat" (59). John'sdescriptionsof Jane as beast
and hiswishto keepherfromeducatingherselfthroughbooks mayrecall
Wollstonecraft'sdefinitionof the "true style" of Mahometanism:the
view of womenas "domesticbrutes"([1792] 1982, 101), "not as a part
of the humanspecies" (80).
The sexualityof the harem is absent fromthe Reed home, but the
is not. In
indolent,pamperedsensualitythat so offendsWollstonecraft
the openingscene,Mrs. Reed lies "reclinedon a sofa by thefireside. . .
15Grosrichard
of the
demonstrates
that,in theWesternconstruction
convincingly
seraglio,"To be the master... is to see. In the despoticstate,whereone always obeys
'blindly,'the blindman is the emblematicfigureof the subject" (73, translationmine).
See also Bellis 1987 foran explorationof the politicsof visionin JaneEyre.
606
SIGNS
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THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Zonana
withher darlingsabout her" (39). Johnis constantlyplied with "cakes
and sweetmeats,"even thoughhe "gorged himselfhabituallyat table,
whichmade himbilious,and gavehima dimand blearedeyewithflabby
cheeks" (41). John is the effete,attenuatedtyrantmade weak by his
abuse of power, familiarfrom Wollstonecraft'scharacterizationsof
"bashaws." The Reed sistersare "universallyindulged"(46) and "elabin silks.The luxury
oratelyringleted"(60); theirmotherdressesregularly
of Gateshead,associatedas it is withthedegeneracyand despotismof the
harem,is somethingJane learnsto abhor,and this abhorrenceinforms
herlaterattemptsto resistRochester'sdesireto see her "glittering
like a
parterre"(296).
Jane,not unlikeMontesquieu's Roxanna, rebels against her imprisonment withinMaster Reed's "harem." Her physicalviolence is exwordsforMrs. Reed,
pressedagainstJohn,but she reservesherstrongest
who
"If anyoneasks
adult
has
enforced
wishes:
the
the"youngmaster's"
I
how
liked
how
I
will
me
you,and
you treatedme,
say theverythought
ofyoumakesme sick,and thatyou treatedme withmiserablecruelty....
You thinkI haveno feelings,and thatI can do withoutone bitof love or
kindness;butI cannotliveso: and youhaveno pity"(68). Like Roxanna,
Janeexposes thehypocrisyof herkeeper,insistingon thefreedomof her
mindand on her desireforand rightto genuinelove.
Jane's outburstleads to her departurefromGateshead, thoughshe
soon findsherselfin anotherinstitution
thatevenmorecloselyresembles
the harem that haunts the Westernfeministimagination.Lowood, "a
large and irregularbuilding"throughwhich on her arrivalJane is led
"from compartmentto compartment,frompassage to passage" (76),
embodiestheconfinement
of theharem.The buildingis oppresperfectly
sive,dark,and gloomy,and the gardenis no better:"a wide enclosure,"
it is "surroundedwith walls so high as to exclude everyglimpse of
prospect" (80). These walls not onlylimitthe visionof the institution's
"inmates" but theyare "spike-guarded"(107) to prohibitfreedomof
movement.
Withintheconfinesof thisdwelling,Janediscovers"a congregationof
girlsof everyage.... Their numberto me appeared countless" (76).
Over thiscommunity
of womenrulesthe redoubtableMr. Brocklehurst,
"the black marble clergyman"(98) whom Jane perceivesas a "black
column,"a "piece of architecture"(94). Like JohnReed, Brocklehurst's
characteristic
gestureis to gaze searchinglyupon his assembleddependents.When he makes his firstappearance at Lowood, he "majestically
surveyedthewhole school" (95); a fewmomentslaterhe "scrutinize[s]"
thehairof theterrified
girls.As withJohnReed,Janeseeksto hide from
thismaster'seyes: "I had sat well back on the form,and while seeming
to be busywithmysum,had heldmyslatein sucha manneras to conceal
Spring 1993
SIGNS
607
Zonana
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
look, however,and is
myface" (97). Janedoes not escape Brocklehurst's
forcedto sufferthehumiliationof his descriptionof heras a liar.Janeis
freedby thegood officesof Miss Temple,and later,when the scandal of
it takesthedeathof
Brocklehurst's
despoticruleis revealed(significantly,
a numberof the inmatesto cause thisrevelation)he is strippedof some
of his power.Lowood becomes a fairlyhappyhome forJane,thougha
"prison-ground"nonetheless(117).
It may be objectedthatthe asceticaspectsof Lowood accord ill with
the suggestionthat it is figuredas a harem.CertainlyLowood harbors
neitherthe sensualitynor theovertsexualityassociatedwiththeharem.
numberof dewith one man controllingan indefinite
Yet its structure,
wish
Brocklehurst's
the
that
of
mimics
seraglio.Further,
pendentwomen,
to stripthe girlsof all adornment,of all possibilitiesof sensual gratification, has its parallel in the sultan's wish to keep the women of the
haremrestrainedfromany sexualitynot underhis control.That Brocklehurstis figuredin plainlyphallictermsonlyunderscoreshis identificationas a sultanwhose perversepleasurehereconsistsin denyingpleasure
to the women he rules. For his wife and daughters,however-women
overwhompresumablyhe can exertevengreatercontrol-Brocklehurst
allows a greatersensuality:thesewomenare "splendidlyattiredin velvet,
silk,and furs"(97).
When Jane leaves Lowood for her "new servitude"at Thornfield
(117), she happilyanticipatesenteringthe domain of Mrs. Fairfax,an
"elderlylady" (120) whom she believesto be the mistressof a "safe
"domesticcomfort"
haven"(129), a "snug" and securerealmof feminine
new household of
that
this
discovers
To
her
initial
(127).
dismay,Jane
women also has a "master,"the absent yetomnipotentMr. Rochester.
JanefirstmeetsRochesteron the moonlitlane connectingThornfieldto
thetownof Hay, unawarehe is hermaster.She perceivesthisstrangerto
havea "dark face,withsternfeaturesand a heavybrow" (145); latershe
will call his skin "swarthy,"his features"Paynim" (212). The man has
fallenfromhis horse,and Janeoffersto assisthim.Beforeacceptingher
help,however,he subjectsherto intense"scrutiny"in orderto determine
her identity(146).
Janerevealsthatshe is the governessat Thornfield;Rochesteroffers
about himself,exceptto say,whenJanefailsin hereffort
no information
to lead his horseto him: "I see ... themountainwill neverbe broughtto
Mahomet,so all you can do is to aid Mahomet to go to the mountain"
(146). Though utteredin jest, thesewords do not bode well forJane's
relationshipwithhermaster.Rochestergiveshimselftheone name that,
him as
to a nineteenth-century
audience,would unambiguouslyidentify
a polygamous,blasphemousdespot-a sultan.Aftersuch an introduction,it comesas no surprisewhenRochesterchooses to dress"in shawls,
608
SIGNS
Spring 1993
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Zonana
northatJaneshould
witha turbanon hishead"fora gameofcharades,
see himas "theverymodelof an Easternemir"(212).
of Rochesteras an oriental
The most strikingidentification
fromhisownlips-occurs
a
characterization
that
comes
despot-again
bewith
whenhe beginsto contemplate
Jane.The intimacy
marriage
tweenmasterand dependent
has begunto developand,in thecourseof
Rochester
admitsthat
hispastwiththegoverness,
guardedly
discussing
he "degenerated"
whenwrongedbyfate(167). As Janeand thereader
willlaterlearn,heis referring
withBerthaMason,andhis
tohismarriage
in
for
a
"lust
subsequent
passion-viceforan occupation"
indulgence
With
no
of
the
ofRochester's
details
(343).
"degeneration,"
knowledge
him
to
insists
that
nevertheless
Jane
encourages
repent,
thoughRochester
him.
fresh
can
Janesuggests
onlypleasure,"sweet,
help
pleasure"(167),
thatsuchpleasure"willtastebitter"(167) andwarnsRochester
against
"error."Rochester,
to hiswishto loveJane,replies
apparently
referring
thatthe"notionthatflitted
acrossmybrain"is noterroror temptation
but"inspiration":
"I am layingdowngood intentions,
whichI believe
durableas flint.
associates
and
shall
Certainly,
my
pursuits be otherthan
I
I know
have
You
seem
to
doubt
don't
doubtmyself:
been....
me;
they
whatmyaim is, whatmymotivesare; and at thismomentI pass a
as thatoftheMedesand Persians,
thatbothare right"
law,unalterable
(168-69).
aim is to findhappinesswithJane;his motivesare to
Rochester's
redeemhimself
fromhisassociation
withBertha;theunalterable
lawthat
he makeshis own has its antecedentin the one decreedby King
Ahasuerus-"written
andtheMedes,that
amongthelawsofthePersians
itnotbe altered"-whenhebanishes
hisQueenVashtiandvowsto "give
herroyalestateuntoanotherthatis betterthanshe" (Esther1.19).
to whomJanewill latercompareRochester(in the same
Ahasuerus,
chapterin whichshe compareshimto a sultan[Bronte(1847) 1985,
to comeat hiscommand.
His
290]),hadbeenangeredbyVashti'srefusal
counselors
pointout thatthequeen'srefusalto be commanded
might
"come abroad unto all women"(Esther1.17), and the Persianking
passeshis law so that"everymanshouldbearrulein his own house"
decisionto banishBerthaand marry
(Esther1.22). Rochester's
Janeis
like Ahasuerus'sreplacement
of Vashtiby Esther;Jane's
dangerously
resistance
in boththereform
ofhermasterand
signalsherengagement
theliberation
ofherpeople.
Theconversation
between
aboutRochester's
"PerJaneandRochester
sian" law offersreadersclearsignalsabouthow theyshouldperceive
Rochester's
to Jane.Expressed
as a conflict
between
Judeorelationship
Christian
law andPersianarrogance,
theconflict
can also be understood
as Jane'sstruggle
to retainpossessionofhersoul,to claimherrights
as
Spring 1993
SIGNS
609
Zonana
THE
SULTAN
AND
THE
SLAVE
a Western,Christianwoman. Thus, when Rochesterbegins his actual
proposalto her,Janeinsists,"I haveas muchsoul as you" (Bronte[1847]
1985, 281). Later,when she resistshis wish to take her to a "whitewashed villa on theshoresof theMediterranean,"
where,as his mistress,
she would live a "guarded" life(331), she expressesher triumphin preciselythe same terms:"I stillpossessed mysoul" (344).16
It is at Thornfield,
of course,thattheconfinement
and sexualityof the
a wifewhomhe
are
most
Rochester
has
seraglio/harem
fullyrepresented.
in
a
"a
room
"wild
den"
withouta
beast's
(336),
keeps literallycaged
window" (321). In her firstexplicitview of BerthaMason, Janedepicts
her in the ambiguous,nonhumantermsWollstonecraft
had applied to
hareminmates:"What it was, whetherbeastor humanbeing,one could
on all fours;it snatchedand
not,at firstsighttell:it grovelled,seemingly,
it
like
some
wild
animal:
but
was coveredwithclothing,
growled
strange
and a quantityof dark,grizzledhair,wild as a mane, hid its head and
face" (321). Referredto by Jane as a "clothed hyena" (321), Bertha
incarnatesa brutesensualitythatapparentlyjustifiesher imprisonment.
Rochestercalls herhis "bad, mad, and embrutedpartner"(320), whom
he marriedwithoutbeing "sure of the existenceof one virtuein her
nature" (333).
When Rochestertakeshis firstwife,he is himselfactingpurelyon the
basis of his own "excited" senses (332), not seekinga rationalcompanion. He discoversin Berthaa "naturewhollyalien" to his own, a "cast
of mindcommon,low, narrow,and singularlyincapable of beingled to
anythinghigher,expanded to anythinglarger" (333). Berthais characterizedhereas a woman withouta soul. This Westernman has married
a figuratively
Easternwoman,an "embruted"creaturewho, throughthe
marriagebond, becomes a "part of" him (334). When Rochester,respondingto the"sweetwind fromEurope,"decidesto leaveJamaicaand
"go home to God" (335), his behaviorcontinuesto be governedby the
"associated"
"most gross,impure,depraved"naturethatis permanently
withhis own (334). Insteadof remainingfaithfulto his wife,he roams
Europe seeking"a good and intelligentwoman, whom I could love"
(337). Of course he findsonly the "unprincipledand violent,""mind16
which
TheotherOld Testament
reference
to a "lawoftheMedesandPersians,
altereth
not"occursin chap.6 ofthebookofDaniel.HerethePersiankingDariusordersthatanyonewhopetitions
"anyGod or Man" otherthantheking"shallbe cast
intothedenoflions"(Dan. 6.7). Danielpraysto theGod oftheHebrews;theking
converts
Dariusto an acdeliverance
castshiminthelion'sden;Daniel'smiraculous
ofthe"livingGod" (Dan. 6.26).JaneEyrenamesDanielas oneofher
knowledgment
favorite
booksin theBibleearlyin thenovel(Bronte[1847]1985,65); Daniel'sordeal,
desireto
to hermaster's
as wellas Esther's,
servesas a modelforherownresistance
to myattention
thereleforbringing
toJimmy
Griffin
stripherof"soul."I am indebted
vantbiblicalpassages.
610
SIGNS
Spring 1993
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Zonana
less," and faithlessmistresseshis money buys him (338). Rochester
knows that"hiringa mistressis thenextworsethingto buyinga slave"
(339), yethe persistson thiscourse-even withJane-because, the narrativesuggests,his association with Bertha has deformedhim into a
polygamous,sensual sultan.
Thus Bronteappears to displace the blame for Rochester'sEastern
tendencieson theintrusionof this"Eastern"womanintohisWesternlife.
Though Jane protestsin Bertha'sbehalf-"you are inexorableforthat
unfortunate
lady" (328)-Rochester's accountofhisfirstmarriageserves
as thenarrativeexplanationof his own orientaltendencies.The factthat
he does not reformuntilBerthadies suggestshow powerfulher oriental
hold on him has been.17
Bertha,of course,is WestIndian,not "Mahometan,"and she scarcely
resemblesthe conventionalimage of an alluringharem inmate-no
"gazelle eyes" or "houri forms"here. Indeed, as Susan L. Meyer convincinglyshows,she is consistently
figuredas a "nightmare"visionwith
and
"swelled"
black
features(1989, 253-54) and
"savage," "lurid,"
associatedwiththeoppressedraces subjectto Britishcolonialism.Yet,as
Grosrichardpoints out, "The West Indies can end by rejoining,in the
imagination,the East Indies" (1979, 32, translationmine). Bertha's
in othersignificant
characterization
ways recallsthetermsused byWollstonecraftto depict the fate of "Mahometan" women: she is soulless,
regardedas "not ... a part of the human species,"and her all-too-real
at Thornfieldinvokestherootmeaningof seraglio:a place
imprisonment
wherewild beastsare kept.One mightsay thatBertha'scharacterization
as a "clothedhyena"manifests
theWesternviewof theunderlying
reality
of the hareminmate,the philosophicalview of women that underpins
both theirconfinement
withinthe harem and theirmore conventional
adornment.18
Thus, to note Bertha's"blackness" and herbirthin Jamaicaneed not
precludeseeingthatshe is also, simultaneously,
figuredas an "Eastern"
woman. Indeed, in Bertha'scharacterizationa numberof parallel discourses converge:she is the "black woman who signifiesboth the oppressedand theoppressor"(Meyer1989, 266); she is Jane's"dark double" who enacts both Jane's and Bronte'srepressedrage at patriarchal
oppression (Gilbertand Gubar 1979, 360); she is the Indian woman
consumedin sati (Perera1991); she is Vashti,King Ahasuerus'suncontrollablequeen; and she is a hareminmatewhose purportedsoullessness
as
justifiesand enforcesher own oppression.Berthais overdetermined;
17 See
discussion
ofhowcontactwiththeOtherservesto beMeyer1989 forfuller
smirch
theEnglishman
inJaneEyre.
18
ofHoraceWalpole'scomment
The readermaybe reminded
thatMaryWollstonecraftwas a "hyenainpetticoats"
(Wollstonecraft
[1792] 1982,17).
Spring 1993
SIGNS
611
Zonana
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
the"centrallocus of Bronte'sanxietiesabout oppression"(Meyer1989,
firethatclearstheway forJane's
252) and as thesparkfortheredemptive
a
she
number
of
serves
to
focus
different
fulfillment,
systemsof figuration
thatstructurethe novel.
in herpresentationof Bertha,
Indeed,Bronteequivocatesstillfurther
neverfullyindicatingwhethershe is inherently
soullessor onlymade so
of
In
a
Rochester's
treatment
her.
few
by
significant
passages, Bronte
allows hernarrativeto suggestthatBertha,likeJane,is consciouslyaware
of and legitimatelyenraged by her enslavement.On the eve of the
doomed wedding,BerthaentersJane'sroom,not to harmher as Rochesterfearsbut to rendthe veil,whichRochesterin his "princelyextravagance" had insistedupon buying(Bronte[1847] 1985, 308). Janesees
in theveil an image of Rochester's"pride" (309). When Bertharendsit
"in two parts" and "trample[s]on them" (311), her action may be exof and jealousytowardJane.
plained as emanatingfromher resentment
it
viewed
as
a
to
be
Or, may
warning Janeabout the "veiled" existence
she would have to lead as Rochester'sharemslave.
That Berthakillsherselfin herattemptto burndown thehouse of her
self-destructive
rebelmastercan also be linkedto Roxanna's ultimately
lion in Persian Letters.Defyingthe masterwho has enslavedher,she
assertsher freedomonlyto finddeath as its inevitableprice.As long as
thedespoticsystemis in place, no womancan trulybe free,yetthesuicide
of a rebelliouswomanservesas a powerfulcondemnation-and potential
Thus it is no accidentthatRochester
transformation-ofthatsystem.19
caused by Bertha'srebellion.Strippedof
is blindedin the conflagration
hisdespoticprivilegeto see,he can no longerfunctionas a sultan.Despite
her earlierpromisesto "stir up mutiny"in the harem (298), Janeowes
her freedomnot to her own rebellionbut to thatof the actual "hareminmate,"the "dark double" who acts as herproxy.
AfterBertha'sdeath, Rochesteris freeto reform,and thisreformis
figuredas a conversion:"Jane!you thinkme, I dare say,an
significantly
God
irreligiousdog: but myheartswellswithgratitudeto thebeneficent
Of
I
now...
did
of thisearthjust
late,Jane-only-only of
wrong....
late-I began to see and acknowledgethe hand of God in my doom. I
with
beganto experienceremorse,repentance,thewishforreconcilement
The
man
who
had
I
to
sometimes
Maker.
passed
pray" (471).
my
began
a "Persian" law to justifyhis own behaviorhere acknowledgesthe authorityof the ChristianGod who mandatesmonogamyand respectfor
thesouls ofwomen.Despitethemanycritiquesof Christianideologyand
practicethat abound in Jane Eyre, Bronte's feministorientalismhere
19See Donaldson 1988 fora similar
implicitin
argumentabout the self-assertion
sees Bertha'sdeath as a denial of her subBertha'ssuicide; Perera1991, on the contrary,
jectivity.
612
SIGNS
Spring 1993
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Zonana
takespriority,
as sheobscuresthepatriarchal
thatis also a
oppression
of
part Christianity.
AndbyendinghernovelwiththewordsoftheChristian
missionary
St.JohnRivers,
himself
oneofthedomestic
despotsJanehashadto defy,
Bronteleavesthereaderwithan idealizedvisionof Christianity
as the
alternative
to
"Mahometan"-and
even
Eastern,
only satisfactory
in
this
the
While
reversal
of
characterization
St.
Hindu-despotism.
John
and theexpressed
attitude
towardChristianity
has struckmanyreaders
as a self-contradictory
inBronte's
shift
andseals
focus,itinfactconfirms
thepatternbegunwithJane'spromiseto "go out as a missionary
to
to
them
that
are
enslaved"
(297).
preachliberty
Thenovel'sconcluding
valuestakes
paeantoSt.Johnandto Christian
not
of
a
the
Middle
conceived
Eastbutof
placeagainst backdrop
vaguely
theFarEast,India.The groundwork
Indiaas another
locale
establishing
forgendered
had beenlaid earlyin thenovel,in the
orientaldespotism
samechapterthatfeatures
the"sultan/slave"
simile.Backat Thornfield
afterthetripto Millcote,Janeobjectsto a "pagan"tendency
in Rochester(301). Her masterhas justsunga songto herin whicha woman
swears"to live-to die"withherbeloved(301).Janeseizeson theseemof dying"
inglyinnocent
phraseand assertsthatshe "had no intention
withRochester:
"I had as gooda rightto diewhenmytimecameas he
had: butI shouldbidethattime,and notbe hurried
awayin a suttee"
(301).
of India as anotherEasternsiteforthe
Thoughthisidentification
ofwomenis notinmyviewextensively
oppression
developed
throughout
thetext,itreturns
inthenovel'sconclusion,
as wellas inthepenultimate
sectionofthenovel,whenJanefacesthethreat
ofbeing"grilledalivein
Calcutta"(441) ifshechoosesto accompany
St.JohntoIndia.Forduring
herstayat Moor House, Janeonce again encountersa man witha "despoticnature"(434) who rulesovera householdof dependentwomenand
who threatensnot only to immurebut also to immolateher (430).
At firstJanefindsMoor House less oppressivethanherearlierhomes.
Yet whenJaneconsentsto giveup herstudyof Germanin orderto help
St. John learn Hindustani,she discoversanotherformof "servitude"
(423) and she experiencesthekissthatSt.Johngivesheras a "seal affixed
to myfetters"(424). Jane'ssubjectionto St.Johnis in factstrongerthan
any she has feltbefore."I could not resisthim,"she uncharacteristically
admits(425). PartofJane'sdifficulty
in resistingSt.John'swishesis that
in
come
cloaked
Christian
doctrine.
they
Janerecognizesthedespotismin
St. John,knowingthatto accede to his wisheswould be "almost equivalent to committingsuicide" (439). Yet because St. Johnis a "sincere
Christian"(434), not an "irreligiousdog," she has a hardertimeextricatingherselffromtheseductionsof his proposal thatshe marryhimand
Spring 1993
SIGNS
613
Zonana
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
accompany him to India: "Religion called-Angels beckoned-God
commanded"(444).
Brontehererevealsthe motivebehindfeminist
orientalismas a mode
of culturalanalysisas well as a rhetoricalstrategy.
Janefindsit possible
to resistRochesterbecause he calls himselfand acts in ways thatclearly
echo theWesternconceptionof "Mahomet,"not Christ.But a man who
assumes the language and postureof Christis harderto combat. Jane
ultimatelydoes findthe strengthto resistSt. John,however,when he
setsher a challengethatobviouslymimicsthe behaviorof a
unwittingly
Westernfeminist'snotionof a sultan.
What St.Johnasks ofJaneis thatshe abandon heralreadyestablished
whatwas, to Western
love forRochester.Withthisdemand,he manifests
"Mahometan" pracmost
feature
of
the
feminists,
threatening
perhaps
witha woman's freechoiceof love object.Indeed,what
tice:interference
had motivatedRoxanna's rebellionin PersianLetterswas not herdesire
to escape confinement
nor herpositionas one of manywives.Rather,it
was her desireto be freeto love anotherman, coupled withher abhorrenceof hersexual "master."In denyingJaneherfreedomto love (and in
promisingto imposetheformsof sexual love upon her),St.Johnbecomes
the mostbrutal(and literal)of herharemmastersand thustheone who
evokesfromher the greatesteffortof rebellion.20
Yet in the concludingparagraphsof the novel,St. John-the archetypalChristianman-is redeemedfromthe flawin his own nature.By
her resistanceto his desireto enslaveher,Jane freeshim fromhis own
orientaltendencies.If she is not a slave,he cannot be a master.Bronte
assertionthatthe
makesexplicittheimplicationbehindWollstonecraft's
womenof theharemhavesouls "just animatedenoughto givelifeto the
establishedherselfto
body."A womanof soul, as Janehas bynow firmly
transform
it: as Jane
not
to
the
harem
but
to
has
the
resist
be,
power
only
bashaw as you are, sir,
had once promisedRochester,"you, three-tailed
shall in a tricefindyourselffetteredamongstour hands" (298).
St. John,like Rochester,becomesa trueChristianafterhis encounter
withJaneand thusis freeto pursueherorientalistproject.For St. John,
as a Christianmissionaryin India, "labours forhis race" withthe same
and devoted,fullof
impulsesas do Janeand herauthor:"Firm,faithful,
and
truth
...
he
clears
their
and
zeal,
painfulway to improveenergy
a
the
hews
down
like
he
ment;
giant
prejudicesof creed and caste that
encumber it" (477). Jane Eyre ends her story with St. John's
words-"Amen; evenso, come,Lord Jesus!"(477)-because theyexter20
See Leonowens(1872) 1991 fora fullerelaborationof thisidea: the greatesthornot enforcedsexual
rorof the harem,forLeonowens,is not polygamy,not confinement,
submission,but denial of the freedomto love.
614
SIGNS
Spring 1993
THE SULTAN AND THE SLAVE
Zonana
nalize and make global what has been herown internaland local project
all along: thepurgingof orientalelementsfromher society,thereplacementof "Mahometan" law byChristiandoctrine.In voicingthesewords,
St. Johnis recommitting
himselfto the specificallyChristianprojectof
alien
combating
religiousforms.Thus, althoughthe novel's primaryfocus is theoccidentalizationof theOccident,it endswiththevisionof the
occidentalizationof the Orient that simultaneouslyunderliesand expands that focus. Readers, both male and female,are encouragedto
follow both St. John and Jane in the task of clearingthe thicketof
oriental"prejudices" abroad, at home, and withintheirown souls. It
remainsforreadersin thetwentieth
centuryto clear yetanotherthicket,
the tangleof feministorientalistprejudicethat continuesto encumber
Westernfeministdiscourse.
Departmentof English
of New Orleans
University
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